It’s no secret that my wife and I have a rather large collection of cheap vehicles. Many of those cars are unsuitable for daily driving use, lest I invest in the futures of a mechanic’s children. I thought one of my unreliable steeds would certainly be my 2012 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI. It had all of the ingredients for a bad time, having spun 350,000-plus miles through its odometer before sitting unused under a tree for years. Well, surprise, my wife put the Volkswagen back into service, and 5,000 miles later, I’m legitimately shocked that, somehow, it’s proving to be one of the most reliable vehicles in the fleet. [Ed Note: I just knocked on wood on Merc’s behalf, lest this story jinx the car – Pete.]
This 2012 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen diesel has always occupied a weird spot in my fleet. I purchased it in the summer of 2020 from the original owner with 350,000 miles. I made the mistake of not checking where the signature was on the title, and it bit me when I tried to register the car because the signature was in the wrong place. The state wouldn’t touch the title, and I couldn’t get in contact with the seller, so I was sort of in a legal limbo. A temporary solution that worked was sourcing license plates from Vermont while the old registration loophole was still around.
But because the car has always been in a sort of questionable legal state, I never really drove it. I tried to cut my losses and sell it, but the only offers I got were basically just a tad over scrap price, and I didn’t have it in me to let a scrapper part out a perfectly operable car. So, I parked it in an outdoor storage lot for years while I tried to figure out the title issue. Somehow, the title became physically damaged during this time, which made it seem even more unlikely that the car would become properly legal.
In 2025, five years after I bought the car, I exhausted all “easy” methods of fixing the title issue. So, I went through the process to get a bonded title from Illinois. Amazingly, because I had a physical title – even if it was damaged – the bonded title process was painless and cost only $100. Sadly, the only reason it took me this long to get to that point was that, in years past, officials at my local Secretary of State office (the Illinois version of a DMV) told me that the process was going to cost me more than the car’s value. They were wrong.
I finally received the title for the vehicle late last year – the original title got lost in the mail – and it was a triumphant moment. Sure, it took over five years, but in my stubborn persistence, I beat the stupid title issue. Maybe I engaged in a sunk-cost fallacy, but I didn’t care. I felt powerful in beating red tape.
Knocking Two Stones With One Bird
The next question then became what to do with the wagon. Amusingly, the process of getting the title, my desire to keep the car had evaporated. During the eternity that the car was without a title, I had bought a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI, driven it for a few years, and sold it. The two cars even used to live next to each other, as seen above.
Also, I want to buy some more dream vehicles this year, including an Audi A2. I intentionally stopped leasing a storage property to prevent myself from collecting more cars than I feel comfortable with. Now, the only way I can add a vehicle is if I remove one first. That meant the VeeDub was on the chopping block.
In the six years the car was in my possession, I drove it only 3,000 miles. Almost all of those miles were in 2020 when the car was registered in Vermont. So, I had a car that hadn’t driven any real mileage in five years and had spent most of its time either under a tree or stationary in a parking space. The only repairs that I had done were a timing belt, water pump, and dual-mass flywheel replacement in 2023. That’s it.
I had the full expectation that whatever poor soul got this car next, they’d be in for a world of hurt. Cars don’t like sitting for years, and this one was already starting from a bad place with a crapload of miles and, you know, being a 2010s Volkswagen.
I started writing a Facebook Marketplace listing. My idea was to list it for $2,000 firm at first, and then take offers if nobody bit at that price. The listing was brutally honest that the car had a ton of miles, hadn’t been driven in years, and had deferred maintenance. My wife, Sheryl, noticed that I was writing the ad and had a question that stopped me in my tracks.
Apparently, out of all of the cars I have bought and sold over the years, this Volkswagen was one of her absolute favorites. As it happened, she was already looking for a car to replace her 2012 Scion iQ that apparently every person in Illinois hates. I was doubtful that a 14-year-old Volkswagen was going to be much of an improvement to her image, but I could tell that she adored the car and would have been sad if I sold it.
I told her that she could have the car. Besides, this was one of the first cars we bought together after we met in 2020, so we have a little bit of history with it. My only suggestion was to keep the Scion, at least at first. I told her that it wasn’t going to be if the Volkswagen would break, but when, and I put my money on it breaking within the first 500 miles of her driving it. I wanted her to keep the Scion, which was hated but functional, as a backup car. Keep in mind that she’s been struggling with our Miata’s manual transmission, so I just want to give her the least stressful options.
The Allegedly Self-Healing Volkswagen
She happily agreed to my idea and took possession of the Volkswagen in February. Since then, the car has blown away my expectations. At first, the car had two trouble codes. There was P048E “Exhaust Pressure Control Valve ‘A’ Position Sensor/Switch Circuit High”, and a P2015 “Intake Manifold Flap Position Sensor – Implausible Signal”. Additionally, the engine ran rough on its first start in over a year, plus the starter seemed quite unhappy.
I warned Sheryl that it’s likely she’d have to replace the swirl flap and the exhaust flap. It was likely, I thought, that the car sat outside for so long that these parts got corroded and no longer work. I also cautioned about injectors in her near future. But the car has been doing its best to call me a liar. The swirl flap code disappeared within 100 miles, and the exhaust flap code disappeared at around 500 miles. The starter also stopped sounding bad, and the fuel system works great.
I watch a lot of Vice Grip Garage, and I’ve noticed that the more miles Derek puts on his rescues, they either get better or worse. I fully expected this Volkswagen to be in that latter category. Sure, I knew that the original owner went to the dealership for literally everything, and the car has service records galore. It was easily the best-maintained 350,000-mile car I’ve seen. But I was sure I had squandered all that mechanical goodwill by letting the car sit for years.
There was so much that could have gone wrong. The vacuum hoses could have broken, the boost hoses could have broken, or the turbo actuator could have gotten stuck. The high-pressure fuel pump could have blown up. Yet, none of that has happened. The car will hold 80 mph all day without issue and still return over 40 mpg doing it. This car gets better mpg at 80 mph than my 2010 SportWagen TDI did, and that car had 100,000 fewer miles and didn’t sit under a tree for a few years.
Sheryl has now surpassed the 5,000-mile mark since getting the car in February, and it’s perfect. Thus far, we’ve only had to replace the tires, change the blower motor resistor, and change the fuel filter. I even got the air-conditioner to work again. I will concede that 5,000 miles isn’t a lot. But that’s 5,000 miles in only two months after sitting for a long time. Sheryl is also extremely hard on her cars. She basically rides them hard, drives them fast, and puts them away wet. So, I’m genuinely impressed by this car’s apparent plan to prove me wrong.
Everyone Loves The Diesel VeeDub
The Jetta has even had a positive impact on my wife’s professional image (as opposed to what driving a Scion iQ did for her). A lot of her clients think it’s a new car and have no idea that it’s 14 years old. Not a single person has complained about the VW; opposing counsel takes her seriously, and she’s even getting paid more. Now that Sheryl might appear for her lawyering duties in any one of three cars, she’s seen as a car-enthusiast lawyer. Even my mother was impressed, even though it’s literally the same car I had parked in her driveway for a year. Maybe it was the detailing that Sheryl had done. I don’t get it, but I’m not complaining.
Weirdly, even though diesel prices are through the roof right now – the last fillup was $5.50 per gallon – the TDI’s high-speed fuel economy is so vastly better than the Scion’s that the wagon has been cheaper to run, too. Sheryl also appreciates that the Volkswagen can go well over 500 miles on a tank, or more than twice as far as the Scion. She also enjoys the much greater comfort of the VW’s seats, the far-nicer ride, a phone microphone that doesn’t sound like crap, fully-functioning cruise control, and good highway manners. Our mini parrots even fit in it so much better (the parrots are small; it’s the cages that are big).
Obviously, this car will break down at some point. Nothing lasts forever, not even this apparently magical Volkswagen. But for now, this car is exceeding all of my expectations. I would have bet actual money on a catastrophic failure by now. Ferdinand Piëch must be rolling in his grave at the thought of a reliable Volkswagen.
Sheryl will be keeping the Scion around as her backup car, but as a clear sign of how much she loves her Jetta wagon – which she named Gandy after Gandalf the White – she’s driven the Scion maybe 20 miles since February. The iQ’s gone 100 miles since February, and most of those miles are from me driving the car around so it’s not just sitting.
If the Volkswagen keeps working well, we even have plans for it. We want to redo our Route 66 trip this year to celebrate 100 years of the Mother Road. She also wants to show me the town she was born in. These are plans we wouldn’t have made with the Scion, which just shows how much neither of us wanted to spend too much time in it. Hopefully, we’ll get to do all of these drives, and you won’t read about how my unbreakable Volkswagen broke.
Oh, who am I kidding, you know it’s going to happen.
Top graphic image: Mercedes Streeter
VW diesels are amazing. My fam owned 3. 2 2014 beetles and 1 Q7. They all were phenomenal road trip vehicles. Very comfy, quiet, and could do 100mph and keep pulling, albeit slowly. Never had any huge issues with them either. I’m a die hard light duty diesel person, and will die on my hill that more diesels should have been sold out here. Even though I probably won’t own one for a daily driver again, I see them everywhere around where I live and part of me is envious of the driver haha. Then I remember diesel is at COVID prices, and I pay 80-100 a month in electricity for my EV to drive 2500mi. I’m still searching for a unicorn A6 TDI prestige with the upgraded B&O system though. Now that will be my ultimate road trip car.
A TDI Wagon is on my short list if and when I replace my 1983 240d.
Yes, I like diesels.
“One Of The Most Reliable Cars I Own Is Somehow A 359,000-Mile Volkswagen That Sat Under A Tree For A Few Years”
Which is exactly why you belong here.
I love that the error code is “Implausible Signal.” Not impossible or erroneous or wrong. Just a cheeky little engine saying, “you having me on?”
i’m not sure if the headline says more about the Volkswagen or the rest of your cars.
Yes!
The only correct answer.
I got a rusty 2010 5mt Wagen and I love it. I think I may prop it up for two years. 160k mi right now and it needs suspension, may be cheaper than another beater
“the original title got lost in the mail”
POSTMAN: Make a wish, Newman! We’ve gotta get back to work in three hours!
(Newman inhales, ready to blow the candles out. Kramer rushes in)
KRAMER: Newman, wait!
NEWMAN: (Sputtering loudly) Kramer! I’m with people.
KRAMER: Yeah, yeah. And thanks for inviting me!
NEWMAN: I did invite you.. Your invitation must’ve.. gotten lost in the mail!
(All postal workers burst out with laughter)
It’s sort of heartwarming to see the automotive version of ‘die with your boots on’.
Live out your last miles with asphalt under your tires and a happy driver at the wheel.
Go little VW!
(Just keep that roadside assistance membership paid up!)
You got lucky then. The experiences my MIL had with her 2003 Jetta TDI was so bad I swore off all VW and frankly- all German vehicles entirely. I swear the way it was designed, if there was a way to make something more complicated to fix, they found it. As in- I had to remove the front wheel and a wiring harness to replace the windshield washer tank- which had cracked on its own at the seam. Or how the lovely orange dipstick filler tube turned into a fragile crumbly thing that had to also get replaced. It just went on and on with the car. Faulty interior lights, the interior plastics had some sort of weird rubbery goo as I assume to make them more “grippy” that was coming off and had turned all weird and sticky. It had this ridiculous ” Zero centrifugal” type clutch that grenaded itself. Why design something like that? Who knows?
Just get a Honda. Or a Toyota. Or some other known reliable car and all good to go, less money exiting your wallet.
Got a 2003 Golf TDI in my driveway- Replaced windshield fluid bottle with tires and wiring in place, dipstick tube intact, any goo from sloppy eating while driving, and still on the original clutch…
In the comments previous article, I joked that VWs either seem to last forever or break every time you look at them. There’s apparently no middle ground. Maybe it’s not a joke!
Must be true because a neighbor had a Jetta that had over 300,000 miles. SAME car as my MIL’s. When her car worked it was pretty great. I think her gen was the last gen where you could genuinely easily get 50+ MPG. Of course it was also probably spewing a lot of particulate matter into the air. I remember it handled really well. And it was super comfortable. But it had problems all the time. I think the worst was that the intake would get clogged with carbon deposits. Probably because they drove so conservatively and never blew the carbon out via “Italian tuneup jobs”
Oh well. The chevy Cruz hatch diesel she replaced it with was even WORSE!!
My VW products also love to fix themselves for whatever reason.
I’ve had a 2014 Sportwagen TDI since 2020 and it’s probably my favorite daily I’ve ever owned. I’ve installed H&R sport springs and Bilstein sport shocks, fitted 17″ wheels, a stiffer rear sway bar, and got a Stage 2 Malone tune that’s good for ~160hp and ~325 ft/lbs. Plus a few other things I’m probably forgetting. It now drives a lot like my old GTI, which it shares a platform with. It just feels…eager, if that makes any sense. Even cruising at 80mph I can usually hit 40mpg on the highway, and I average around 41mpg per tank. It’s been reliable too, the only real issue was a seized rear caliper, I suspect that was related to the 3 years it sat waiting for the Dieselgate fix. Some interior trim bits haven’t proved the most durable, but these are old enough that you can find most of what you need at a junkyard.
Seeing that yours has over 350k miles and keeps chugging along makes me feel better about keeping mine for the long haul. It’s only got 73k miles on it so far, so I should have many more years of fun behind the wheel!
My 2011 is still going strong at 180k, and I’m hoping to at least see 300k out of it before I part with it. I’ve hated it plenty of times due to typical VW things, but having just rebuilt the shifter I’m in love with it again. It’s my car, it’s my truck, it’s my limo, it’s pretty much all the car you could ever need.
The Dieselgeek kit worked perfectly for the shifter and if this car is a manual and is starting to feel wobbly, it’s like puting a brand new shifter in. They have a solution for the p2015 as well, and while it’s what I bought for my car a number of years ago, it was about $20 then and it’s more like $65 now. There’s parts you can cheap out on, and parts you can’t, I think this is one you could go a little cheaper on if you had to.
I can tell you from experience that Amazon does not know what your car is. If you tell it you have a Jetta, it will assume you mean an actual Jetta, not the slightly lengthened Golf it actually is, with some things speific to it only, and some that are only Golf and some that are only Jetta. The seat cover I bought for the drivers seat doesn’t quite fit the car, neither did the original shifter knob and gator I bought when I was rebuilding it, despite Amazon telling me it would. I’ve found that the best thing to do if you want the actual part and are willing to spend the moeny on it is to go to FCP Euro and just buy it. They have an amazing system for finding parts just for your car. If you want/need to cheap out, then still go to FCP Euro and use it to get the OEM part number, and put that into Amazon and buy away. So far it’s worked perfectly.
These can be great cars if you maintain them regularly, because the engine (mine is a CJAA, yours probably is too based on the year) can run for a million miles. Just change the fuel filter for every onther oil change, inspect that timing belt at every oil change because they are awful to replace, flush the heater core every other year because changing them out can be a nightmare depending on which one your car has, and if you still have the DPF in it, watch those regens.
If you take that route 66 trip and anything happens while you’re in Texas, let me know and I’ll show up with the tools
Another thing I’ve found helpful is ECS Tuning’s site. Even if you don’t buy parts from them, they have a lot of DIY instructions you can download, they’re usually right there on the product page. Especially helpful since so many forums are dead with no images. They can be a bit overpriced but because they’re close to me, I can order parts one day and receive them the next without paying for expidited shipping. FCP Euro is my other preferred parts supplier though.
Having the timing belt replaced on my 2014 was the first big ticket item I could afford to pay someone else to do, and I’m so glad I did. I had them replace my springs and shocks while they had it. The shop builds race and track cars, so I knew it was in good hands.
Hey buddy, knew you’d be here too hahaha
I did the timing belt myself, and I would 100% recommend paying someone else to do it if you can afford it because it sucked. Same with the thermostat. Some of the jobs are fun, like the shifter rebuild, some of them will make you hate your life.
I know I’;ve looked at ECS before, but I think you’re right about them being expensive and that’s why I didn’t use any of their stuff
Yep, this ol’ gal has a CJAA in it! I actually loved having two CJAAs at the same time because I used the white wagon to help me diagnose issues I was having with the black wagon. I think the black one’s lower fuel economy was due to a boost issue I was having. Oh well, that hasn’t been my problem for a hot minute.
So, I’ve been passing all of my VW knowledge down to my wife, and this has been my favorite part. When she was shopping for parts, she asked me what generation it was, and I was like, “Well, that’s a loaded question, because it’s technically not even a Jetta.” lol
That’s a great story, and I’m glad it’s been so good. However, it sure says something about the associates at her job, that they are so superficial as to care more about what a person drives than how good they are at their job.
I just find it odd that anyone would hold a Toyota product of all things against somebody. To me, driving any Toyota just says “reliable and boring practical person”. The IQ is a weird little car, but still.
A little bit of nonconformity would go a long way in a strait-laced work environment like that.
It’s actually refreshing seeing a car that’s happy doing car things.
Don’t get me wrong, I would read every word of it if you covered this thing in Xpel, replaced its entire suspension with eBay parts, got it through inspections in Germany and Australia, and drove it through the toughest trail at Moab while Griffin and Matt sampled everything on Taco Bell’s menu in the back seats, but this is just… wholesome.
Dammit, Mercedes! I thought I finally got over ever wanting a TDI wagon and here we go again. Maybe after the kids are out of the house. I don’t mind getting stranded on my own but feel guilty when I drag others into my mess…
They all have a zillion miles on them. TDIs are probably less likely to strand you than the average car.
I have 2 in the fleet with over 260k but it’s an XJ and Corolla and will probably keep going.
I hear there’s a lifetime guarantee against ignition coil failure…
Going on Polymarket to see if there’s an over/under on how long this VW lasts. Maybe there’s a parlay on whether Peter’s wood knocking makes a difference.
Implausible signal….what a great error message. Someone at VW got tired and put in a default case statement error message.
I think it’s actually useful. It will tell you if there’s a short or an open circuit, to me “implausible signal” usually rules out a wiring issue. Typically something wrong with the sensor or its interface with what it’s measuring in those cases.
“out of range” or “out of specification” would be how I read that.
It’s a typical error message for a measurement device where you have results that, effectively, rail the measures (e.g. an operating 0-100 range comes back as “900”, “-5” or something). Easy things to troubleshoot as PL71 notes below as it’s likely one of: your conditions are bad (because you really are out of range), sensor isn’t properly installed, or sensor failure.
As a sidenote: My Mk5 had the German message of “Kupplung” as the displayed error when I didn’t push in the clutch to start the car.
Me, when anyone tries flirting with me.
“Signal not recognized” sounds more like what my ECU would report
Been driving VW diesels since the 70s and have yet to see the inside of their engines, transmissions, or even replace a clutch. Had a wagon like yours, sold back to VW at 52K miles but it’s still going at over 200K miles on a salvage title, despite quicky oil change services. Replaced that with a new 2015 Golf TDI, at 110k miles it’s still on the original brake linings, struts, etc.. If you take care of TDIs they’re as reliable as anything Asian, and a lot more fun! Join us over at tdiclub.com and we’ll regale you with tales of our have million mile TDIs and more free advice that you can handle!
I think I have a TDIclub account that I made back when I bought my first-ever TDI in 2019. I have a problem with forgetting to return to the forums that I join. Thanks for the reminder to peek my head in there! 🙂
My first new car was an ’02 Golf TDI GLS and I sure do miss that thing. I was on TDIClub a lot back then.
Please, automotive gods, let those plans happen
.
I second, and third, that cars that otherwise are near the end of their life cycle tend to start running better and better with more miles.
Every person I’ve helped by an older used car, I’ve repeated the mantra that I’d rather have a 10 year old car with 120,000 on it than a 20 year old car with 50,000 miles on it. But everyone is taught “low miles is best”, so they end up with a ’12 Kia Soul with 68,000 miles and ALL THE PROBLEMS.
How dare you make me look for diesel VW wagons again!
All joking aside, this is awesome and I’m super happy for you and your wife. It’s funny the perception that VW wagons have in the states, they come off as the intellectual choice. VW of America needs to figure out how to capitalize on this perception
Was the tree a banyan tree, by chance?
I wanted a Golf 4Motion wagon with 6MT.
I tried to buy one, new.
Despite being months ahead, and offering to order direct from factory and wait, I couldn’t get one. Fcukers. And then they discontinued the Golf wagon for these shores.
I’m not bitter. Not one bit. Nope, not at all.
There was an article years ago when those were still new in Road & Track about the writer trying to buy one. Every dealer he went to tried to push him into a Tiguan, which with incentives was actually cheaper. Damn VW for saying these weren’t selling when really they were making zero effort to sell them.
Much like that writer, I wanted the wagon.
I went elsewhere.
I actually did get one new in 2018, with over 5k off the sticker due to it sitting for months on the lot. Dealer basically leaped for joy to see it go, and it was absolutely excellent. That said I sold it in 2022 with around 55k miles and no exaggeration, the DAY before I went to sell it, low coolant warning came on (1.8t ea888 Gen3 water pumps are garbage). I miss it sometimes, but my wallet would not have liked what it was due for.
I left VW/Audi ten years ago, but I don’t know if they’ve ever figured out how to make a reliable water pump. Maybe it’s because they got a late start in the technology?
I wonder if the story would have been different if you’d been looking at an Alltrack, which was the same car with a slight lift and mild cladding. The only car I ever bought new was a ’19 Alltrack S 6MT, purchased in November 2019 (after the announcement had been made that US production was ending) for $6K off MSRP. I had a choice of two that the dealer had coming in, and I chose the one with the Marrakesh Brown interior.
It was a really nice little wagon, but I kind of stopped driving much only a few months later when we all stopped going anywhere, and after two years and about 12K miles I discovered I could sell it for way more than I’d paid and no longer have a car payment.
Maybe. The 6MT part seemed to be the impossible aspect of the 4motion.
VW can’t sell them if they don’t have them for sale. Self-fulfilling prophecy to eliminate the manual.
Truth across the industry. “Manuals don’t sell” – yeah, they sure don’t if you both don’t make any AND you don’t actually allow factory orders. Same with wagons too – so doubly screwed if you want both in the same car. Which is how I ended up taking a deep breath and ordering a scarily expensive at the time BMW wagon in 2011. Thankfully BMW LOVED doing special orders, and gave a nice discount if you picked it up in Munich. Then shipped it to the US for free.
I decided not to let my FRS go at the time, but I was seriously looking at FWD golf wagons around that time. They were selling for around $4-5k off and with the longer warranty they were offering at that time it was really really tempting. I even started getting the itch for a Alltrack, because there was a green one with a brown interior near me for something kike $7500 off. I didn’t necessarily need AWD, i definately didn’t need the lift, but it had the nice interior and the panoramic roof and all that.
Yeah, AWD and the lift were totally unnecessary for me, but the Alltrack had more power (1.8T vs. the 1.4T in the Golf, though I think later Golf 4Motions got the bigger engine, too) and nicer interior options for minimal extra cost. I purposely avoided the big sunroof, though, after a friend’s experience with leaks on a Mk6 Sportwagen and seeing a used Alltrack that had been Lemon Law’ed for the same thing.
That P2015 code can be a bummer because usually it means that the plastic end stop molded into the intake manifold is wearing down, which some shops will say requires a brand new intake manifold (which is ridiculous).
Luckily yours resolved itself, but there are little CNC aluminum brackets (pioneered by Dieselgeek, but there are very cheap knockoffs on Amazon) that you can bolt onto the intake flap motor to provide an external end stop that will never deteriorate.
I installed one of the knockoffs on my 2012 Sportwagen and only had to wallow out one of the mounting holes on the little stamped bracket it comes with. The big trick is not dropping the return spring while reinstalling the motor, but it is a pretty quick job otherwise.
I’m so glad that one more TDI Sportwagen is trucking around, and it’s great that it is working out well for Sheryl!
Chevrolet Trucks would like a word with you.